I once knew someone who got picked up on a military base for shoplifting a little over $100 of stuff (making it a technical grand larceny/felony at the time, line btw grand/felony and petit/misdemeanor being $100; I think the GL amount is higher now, not sure). Sure, different deal doing it on a military base, and that made it a Federal charge, but civilian adults committing crimes on military bases are under civilian jurisdiction and appear before a Fed magistrate. This person was under 21 (but over 18.) (a dependent, not an active-duty person). First-time offender, impeccable reputation, bright future ahead, though obviously stupid af. And the videotape did not lie. After appearing without a lawyer and trying to plead guilty, the magistrate said gtfo, not accepting that at this time, go get a lawyer. Got a lawyer, got into a diversion program positioned to the top-level misdemeanor rather than the lowest-level felony, and got probation for a year + 100 hours community service. (And bc an offense on base, also barred from the base and their sponsor (parent) got called before the CO.)
But even allowing for the Federal/military base angle, the overall charges were FAR lower in terms of degree than Nick's, yet that person got a much greater proportion of accountability relative to the charge - it dropped a degree to a misdemeanor, bc they were barely over, but there were no other charges, no children or guns, no one else impacted. And they got more hours of community service in the year probation than Nick has to do should have done CLE in 6 years.
Sick that a then-42-yo lawyer and father of 5 caught for possessing 2nd degree felony amounts of cocaine will have similar or lesser consequences than a stupid idiot young adult pocketing random minor stuff, even if both of them were adults and knew or should have known better and that what they were doing was highly illegal.
On reviewing all this in my mind, though I think Nick deserves far more than he's likely to get, perhaps the person I knew should have gotten far less for the crime. I have mixed feelings.
On one hand, theft is a crime (as is drug possession). And there's a sort of special status in my mind for military bases - of all the "people" not to steal from, the military is a bad choice, not just bc of consequences, or that it was this person's parent's employer, but also bc I value the military, etc.
On the other hand, I know that this experience fucked that kid up for decades with the shame of it and fear of its impact on the future. Perhaps a fine (plus the military-specific consequences of base ban and sponsor being reprimanded) but no reportable record would have sufficed.
But if a military base for the locus is a special circumstance with extra consequences for a wobble-level crime, then surely a high-level felony + kids + guns should intensify the outcome even more.